Nobody Said it Was Easy
by jabastian
Summary: Starting on the bus ride home from sectionals, Tina and Artie are still upset with eachother, and want to resolve things. Each has to battle with internal feelings as they decide what to do about their crumbling relationship.


Sectionals were over, and William McKinley High School had won. Even though Tina was excited, she wished she could share the excitement with Artie. Though several weeks had passed since the falling out over her fake stutter, they were still uncomfortable around each other. She wondered whether anyone else in Glee had noticed the tension, but immediately dismissed the idea. The baby drama in the club was far more consuming than whatever was going on between her and Artie.

"Tina! Earth to Tina!" Mercedes was snapping her fingers in Tina's face, Kurt looking on.

"Oh! Sorry, I s-s-spaced out there," Tina replied. Mercedes laughed, before continuing to tell them about her recent finds on a trip to the mall. Tina let her mind wander once more, as she looked past Mercedes and Kurt to the boy sitting in front of them. He was quietly talking to Finn, whose enthusiastic façade was slowly crumbling. She knew that seeing Puck and Quinn talking to each other and laughing on the other side of the bus couldn't be helping the tall quarterback, especially when Puck reached out and brushed a few tendrils of hair from Quinn's face.

_Artie was attempting to comfort Finn and he was secretly glad that there was someone on the bus more miserable then him. Even though he continued to smile, he missed Tina. He missed the belief that her stutter was real, that it was an important bond between them. _

"_Finn, it's ok. I know right now you feel pretty miserable, but at least we were able to win sectionals! That helps a little right?"_

"_Artie…I'm glad we won sectionals and all, but I think the betrayal of my best friend and my girlfriend is a bit bigger," Finn rubbed his fingers against his temple and closed his eyes briefly. Artie couldn't come up with anything to say to that, so he settled for patting Finn's shoulder a couple times and then sitting in companionable silence. Unfortunately, the silence was the perfect opening for his thoughts of Tina to flood in. The kiss had been exactly what he had always thought their first kiss would be, but then she had to ruin it all. He still couldn't believe the harsh words that had fallen from his lips _"I'm glad now you get to be normal, but I'm going to be stuck in this chair for the rest of my life, and that's not something I can fake."_ His lips pursed as the anger rushed back, and it built as he heard Tina stutter behind him "B-b-but Kurt I thought p-p-plaid was out?" Why was she still faking it? She hadn't appeared to have any difficulty telling him and breaking his heart, so why not let the entire glee club in on her secret?_

Tina tried to immerse herself in the fashion conversation, but she felt entirely out of her comfort zone with the very fashionable Kurt and Mercedes. She knew that her style was entirely different from theirs, and, given the chance, they probably would have given her a makeover in a heartbeat. After a few interjections into the conversation, she finally decided to just lean against Mercedes and close her eyes. She was so tired of thinking about Artie all night, so sick of wondering if he would ever forgive her, or if they could ever return to being friends at least. Slowly, she drifted off, the lull of the bus's engine singing her to sleep.

"Tina! Tina, wake up, were back at school!" Tina was startled awake by Kurt shaking her shoulder gently. As she looked up, most of the Glee club had exited the bus, except for Artie. His back was towards her, as he waited patiently to be lifted down on the platform. She glanced at him sadly, before following Kurt off the bus, and into the school.

_Artie heard Kurt trying to wake Tina, but he kept his face resolutely away from her. He had to remain strong; he couldn't let her see how much he wanted to be around her, how much he missed her. Still, when he heard her following Kurt off the bus, he felt the familiar ache in his chest. As he was lowered towards the ground, he was determined to head into school, grab his math homework, and never think about Tina ever again. He shouldn't miss her if she didn't miss him. _

_As Artie rolled into school, he tried to remain confident that he would be able to block her from his mind. But this illusion was shattered as he saw her at her locker, pulling out a few books and checking the mirror. He gulped, and then went past her, keeping his eyes straight ahead as he rounded the corner to his own locker. Pulling out his math book, his racing heart slowed. He could do this. Then disaster struck._

"_Artie?" Even without looking, he knew who it was. Resignedly, he turned._

"_Yes, Tina?"_

She didn't know what she was going to say. This was entirely unplanned, spontaneous, random, and utterly crazy. All she knew was that she wanted to fix things between them, and the only way that could happen would be if she took the leap and initiated a conversation.

"Artie?" the name came out with a slight squeak. She saw the way his shoulders slumped, before he turned to her, and uttered one word, with such force and anger.

"Yes?" She gulped, and slid against the lockers until she was sitting on the ground next to his locker. She bit her lip, took a breath, and then began to talk.

"Artie, I know I hurt you, and that you don't understand why I would have faked this stutter for so long. And to tell the truth, I don't know why I continued to keep it up past sixth grade. All I know is that it made me feel safe. And safety is something everyone craves right? Maybe it wasn't the best method, but it was what worked for me. And then…I joined Glee, and suddenly I realized something…people aren't all that scary," she looked over to him, and saw he was listening intently, even though his face was still angry. Biting her lip, she looked down once more and continued to talk.

"And well…that was something I'd never really felt before. And suddenly, I wanted to stop pushing people away. I wanted to have friends. And the thing that had always made me feel safe started to inhibit me. And I just wanted to do away with it, so I acted rashly, and told you at the wrong moment. I-I-I," Suddenly she was interrupted.

"You can drop the stutter around me remember. I know it's fake." Artie's voice was cold, and made her look down and blush.

"Okay, that one was real," she muttered. It was his turn to blush, but she casually waved her hand, as if to say it didn't matter, before continuing.

"Artie, I just…I want to be friends again. I'm so sorry that my confession has just broken us apart, because…you were the one who really helped me out of my shell. I never told you so that I could suddenly be normal, I just did it so that I could stop pretending; stop relying on that security shield. I didn't realize it would affect you so adversely, and well…I'm sorry I disappointed you," she looked up at him, and saw that he was clearly struggling with his emotions. After a few seconds, she sighed, and stood up, before walking away, brushing a few tears from her eyes.

_Artie looked after her. He didn't know what to feel. He was still angry, but at the same time…he loved her more than anything. She had just poured out her heart to him, and she had been so honest and well…he missed her company. Artie had become so caught up in the whirl of emotions, that he was surprised when he looked up and saw she was halfway down the hall, her hand to her face, feet moving dejectedly. On impulse, he began to chase after her, rolling as fast as he could, until he went past her and was able to turn around, stopped in front of her. She looked down at him in surprise, her hand falling from her face to her side. He reached out and tugged on her wrist a little, until she bent down to face him at eyelevel. Slowly, he leaned forward, closing his eyes as he felt her soft lips on his own. The kiss was brief, but when she pulled back, he could tell it was the right move. Shyly, he smiled up at her, and then he looked down at their hands, fingers entwined. And, looking at her face, the old proverb came back to him. Actions speak louder than words. _


End file.
